[sdiy] FPGAs

[Matthew Smith]

Many thanks to those who have responded on this topic.

I will attempt to summarise my position:

I'm only looking at this at the moment from a hobby/SDIY perspective as 
something that *may* be of help. That and to keep my middle-aged brain 
from atrophying to fast ;-)  In the 5-year plan for my business, I am 
toying with the idea of a hardware product (actually a MIDI processor) 
but think it unlikely to happen and would just be microcontroller based.

I've ordered the following through Abebooks:
- Fundamentals of Digital Logic and Microcomputer Design: Includes 
Verilog & VHDL -- Fourth Edition
- Fundamentals of Digital Logic with VHDL Design with CD-ROM
- The Verilog Hardware Description Language (with CD-Rom)
- VHDL Primer (Third Edition)

Not bad for just over $40 AUD for the lot, delivered :-)

Unfortunately I don't have the local library option - never have done. 
Always lived rurally so any technical books are special order and take 
*months* to turn up. Ordered one back in the UK, arrived after 18 months 
and I had 4 DAYS before I had to return it! Thank goodness second-hand 
books are now a) cheap and b) readily available!

Having furthered my research, I don't think the "which language" 
question was probably the right one to ask from the start.

The three major factors appear to be:

1) Development environment must work under Linux. Preferably *any* Linux 
(I run 64 bit Debian Lenny on all my machines) but I can always run a 
virtual machine under VirtualBox, if necessary.

2) Cost - I want to find a device that is affordable which I can 
programme with tools that are also affordable (or free.)  I have so far 
been thoroughly confused by the Xilinx software offerings and licensing 
options. I *think* there might be a free option, but I can't even 
download the code until next month as the 3.5Gb would be too much of a 
hit on an already busy month.

Altera offers a Linux version of it's Quartus II software for free. 
(Their site is much easier to navigate and the options are much more 
clear!) Oh - and this software accepts Verilog *and* VHDL. Which is cool.

Next cost issue is a programmer. I'm rather hoping that this is 
something that I can build myself, assuming I can find the appropriate 
application note giving the spec. (Based on my experience of 
microcontrollers.)

3) Physical device. Here's the crunch - I've got to be able to solder 
this thing to a hand-made board. Even if I get a board made by Futurlec, 
BGAs are *out*. I reckon I can solder a 144 pin QFP, but think that 
would be about my limit. I don't actually *need* lots of IO pins - so 
where's the 40-pin DIP version, guys? ;-)

So that's where I am - trying to figure out a suitable, inexpensive 
device, for which I can build a programmer and for which I can develop 
with a free (or inexpensive) compiler.

If anyone has any specific recommendations in this respect, I'd be 
interested to hear.

Cheers

M

-- 
Matthew Smith
Smiffytech - Technology Consulting & Web Application Development
Business:      http://www.smiffytech.com/
Blog/personal: http://www.smiffysplace.com/
LinkedIn:      http://www.linkedin.com/in/smiffy
Skype:         msmiffy
Twitter:       @smiffy